The Poison Tyrant's Wrath
Boom!
Poison mist billowed up in every direction, choking the air and blotting out sight. From within that blinding smoke came the relentless sound of flesh being sliced open.
Slash! Slash!
Tang Ildo’s blade raked across the masked men. Yet not one of them so much as groaned.
Highly trained assassins!
These were no ordinary killers. He had aimed for vital blood points, yet even under agony that should have crippled them, they did not flinch. Instead they counterattacked.
Clang!
The instant he shifted from offense to defense, the masked men poured on a merciless assault.
“Kh!”
A hair-thin thread opened a wound across his skin. Still, Tang Ildo was of the Black Scale Guard—the unit charged with protecting the greatest master under heaven.
I never thought I’d have to use this here. The seniors are going to tear me a new one.
He flung a scatter of pear-blossom petals that flashed pure white into the air.
“It’s the Storm Pear Flower Nail—dodge!”
The masked man’s warning had barely left his lips when—
A legendary Tang Clan projectile weapon that fires thousands of needles.
Shhhhhhk!
Blood began to paint the surroundings.
“Aaaagh!”
“Ghk!”
Even with internal energy reinforcing their bodies, the steel needles tore ruthlessly through flesh. In that brief opening Tang Ildo’s form flickered. Lightning-swift, he cut down the wounded masked men one after another, disabling them with precision.
The sword art the Tang Clan currently prided itself on—the Black Scale Reverse Killing Sword. Third form: Black Serpent Poison Fang.
A silent, unerring strike that targeted the opponent’s weak points. Even a grazing blow left a man half-dead.
“Hah…!”
Tang Ildo steadied his breathing.
“……You truly are Black Scale. I’ll grant that you’re strong. But we are not the end of this.”
The words had scarcely faded when another group appeared.
“We came because things were dragging on. Good thing we did.”
Tang Daesan’s eyes settled on the masked man who had just spoken.
“Jong-gu, you’ve done enough. Leave the rest to us.”
“Forgive me……”
Jong-gu collapsed unconscious. Tang Daesan and Tang Pil advanced. Completely surrounded, Tang Ildo muttered,
“Well, shit. Something felt familiar. So you’re the assassins of Yuhongak.”
Tang Daesan made no attempt to hide their identity. The confidence of men certain they could kill their prey.
“You figured it out too late.”
“Still, aren’t we distant kin?”
“I’m about the age of an uncle to you.”
“Does it have to be this way?”
“I’m simply disposing of the Tang Clan’s garbage. Since this is for the clan, the right thing is for you to step aside.”
“You really don’t know a damn thing, do you? Spit!”
Tang Ildo spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground.
“You can’t even handle me, yet you talk of killing the young master? Wake up. You’ll all die.”
“You believe those wild rumors about him too? Even the Black Scale Guard is useless.”
“You won’t believe it. But it’s the truth.”
“Do you think we don’t know the clan head spread that nonsense just to protect the young master?”
“Our lord, you say? Do you really believe that?”
The clan head was notoriously cold toward Tang Cheonwi in particular. Why would such a man invent stories to shield the young master? He had even sent the boy out on a journey with only a single guard—an almost insulting arrangement for a bloodline-obsessed clan like the Tang.
“We’re not the sort to be shaken by your prattle.”
The Yuhongak assassins remained stone-faced. Tang Ildo merely shook his head.
“You’re all going to die at the young master’s hands.”
“It will be the other way around. Neither you nor Tang Cheonwi will ever return to the clan. You’ll die right here.”
“I warned you. Don’t blame me later.”
“In recognition of that ‘advice,’ we’ll kill you painlessly.”
Tang Daesan’s and Tang Pil’s swords moved. Just as the Black Scale Guard possessed the Black Scale Reverse Killing Sword, Yuhongak assassins had their own art—the Submerged Shadow Secret Sword.
An extremely secretive style capable of utterly unpredictable strikes. Specialized for assassination, yet ferocious even in open combat.
That blade flashed toward Tang Ildo’s throat.
Or rather—it would have, in the next instant.
A single shadow appeared and deflected both Tang Daesan’s and Tang Pil’s swords.
The two men froze in shock. The shadow spoke to them.
“Playing the merciful saints against one opponent? Don’t make me laugh.”
“Tang Cheonwi!?”
“How are you—?”
Their eyes went wide.
“What surprises you more—that I blocked your sword strikes, or that I just showed up out of nowhere?”
And he had done it with bare hands. Tang Daesan and Tang Pil still could not comprehend what they were seeing.
While the two remained stunned, Tang Cheonwi looked down at Tang Ildo.
“You’re Black Scale Guard, yet you get pushed around by these Yuhongak small fry? What the hell are you good for?”
“I was handling ten first-class fighters, you know.”
“If you can’t even handle that, go die somewhere else.”
“Weren’t you the one who went on ahead, Young Master?”
“Your presence vanished, so I came back.”
“You never paid me any attention before—why now?”
“If someone wants to kill me, the first step is to eliminate the shadow guard watching my back, isn’t it?”
“You already knew Yuhongak was after you?”
“How many factions in the Tang Clan want me dead? More to the point—take this and get out of the way.”
He tossed a small pill toward Tang Ildo.
“What is it?”
“Healing medicine. Tang Saeng made it, so the effect should be solid.”
The pill was called the Wild Herb Qi Resolving Pill, compounded from the poisonous herbs of Biwon Forest. Still in its early stage of refinement, yet its potency was extraordinary—capable of mending even severe internal injuries as if by a miracle.
“Oh, right. One thing I forgot to mention.”
The only drawback was that, being made from poisonous herbs, the pain it inflicted was truly monstrous.
Gulp.
“Too late—I already swallowed it.”
The pill’s effect activated the instant it was consumed.
“Gyaaaah!”
Tang Ildo’s face twisted in agony. Tang Cheonwi spoke without looking back.
“If you can just endure the pain, you’ll be good as new. Hang in there.”
He turned his gaze forward again.
“What are you waiting for? Don’t tell me a fifteen-year-old has you that scared.”
Tang Cheonwi taunted Tang Daesan and Tang Pil. Tang Daesan threw his head back and laughed.
“Hahahaha!”
The booming sound rolled through the air, almost cheerful. Then it cut off cold, and killing intent flooded out of him.
“You think you can take us alone?”
“Why not? Is the young master of the Tang Clan that much of a joke to you?”
Tang Cheonwi smiled playfully. Beneath the smile lay an emotion of absolute indifference.
Unaware of that depth, Tang Daesan stepped forward.
“I can kill you by myself.”
“Then let’s see the skill of a Yuhongak squad leader.”
Crack. Pop.
Tang Cheonwi rolled his neck left and right, loosening his body.
“Anytime you want to—”
Before the words finished, Tang Daesan vanished from his spot. The Tang Clan’s famed stealth footwork—the Lingering Soul Phantom Step. A movement said to leave only a drifting remnant of the soul; once it was used, the enemy was already a dead man.
But……
“I was talking.”
Tang Cheonwi’s hand shot into empty air with the speed of lightning. A choked groan exploded.
“Guhhk!”
Tang Daesan dangled from Tang Cheonwi’s grip, eyes wide with disbelief as he choked.
“Who the hell do you think you are, cutting me off mid-sentence?”
The fury was icy enough to freeze the marrow. Tang Daesan trembled like a leaf in a gale.
“You worthless pieces of trash. I left you alone, so you started thinking you were something, is that it?”
Still clutching Tang Daesan’s throat, Tang Cheonwi slammed him straight into the ground.
Boom!
“Ghk!”
The impact alone was devastating; an instant later Tang Cheonwi’s foot crashed into the man’s abdomen.
Thud—
Tang Daesan flew toward his comrades.
“Squad Leader!”
“H-Hyung-nim, are you all right?”
They started to move to check on him.
“Hold it.”
Tang Cheonwi’s voice rooted them in place.
“Who gave you permission to move without my leave?”
It was the voice of the King of Hell. They wanted to move, yet their bodies refused. Poison qi had already blanketed the entire area. One wrong breath and they would die on the spot.
Thud. Thud.
Only the sound of Tang Cheonwi’s footsteps could be heard. Tang Pil and the Yuhongak squad members could not even swallow their own spit.
P-Poison qi!? Th-this has to be a dream. How can a boy release poison qi this overwhelming!
Tang Pil refused to accept reality. They were the elites of Yuhongak—how could they be terrified of a mere young master? It should have been the opposite. The boy should have been the one weeping and begging for his life. Yet here they stood, himself included, trembling with fear.
Something is wrong!
That thought had barely formed when—
“Puh!”
“Uweeeek!”
His comrades began coughing up blood and collapsing. Tang Pil was no different.
“Cough! Cough!”
Black blood soaked the earth.
“Everyone—push the poison out with your internal energy—uwek!”
Blood still pouring from his lips, Tang Pil spoke through trembling eyes.
“When did you use Poison Use Technique……!?”
“Does this look like Poison Use Technique to you? An assassin should be sensitive to information. Looks like Auntie took on a bunch of idiots for subordinates.”
This was power of an entirely different order—poisoning by the Tyrant Blood Poison Qi.
The forbidden internal art and ultimate poison inner energy of the Tang Clan that turns the user's blood into poison, capable of absorbing and neutralizing all poisons.
“I was a fool for expecting anything from trash like you. I thought you’d at least bring someone important. Tch.”
Tang Cheonwi’s foot pressed down on Tang Pil’s throat.
“You know why you’re dying, right?”
“……I don’t.”
“You’re dying because you’re a dog that bit its own master.”
“Bullshit…… kh.”
“Tsk tsk. Still not getting it.”
Tang Cheonwi increased the pressure, then curled his lips into a smile aimed at Tang Pil.
“You left your son and wife with Auntie, didn’t you? What do you think will happen to your family once you’re dead?”
Tang Pil shuddered violently.
“You bastard! Do you not fear Heaven itself!?”
“So family is precious to you. Then why did you destroy someone else’s?”
This was not about the present life. It was about the previous one. Tang Pil, Tang Daesan, and Yuhongak had all been traitors who betrayed the Tang Clan.
“I’m going to return everything you did—every last bit. I’ll drag you down into the gutter so thoroughly you’ll never climb out.”
The smile of a yaksha made Tang Pil’s blood run cold. No—what terrified him was the boy who could speak so casually of harming his family.
“……Y-Young Master, spare me.”
“No. Don’t beg. Even if you repent, my mind won’t change.”
In the Tang Clan, Tang Cheonwi had been the worst kind of venomous tyrant. He had claimed he left of his own will, but the truth was different. On the brink of expulsion he had yielded the position of heir to his younger brother and departed. That was how twisted and merciless his nature had been.
The single standard he had set upon returning to the past was simple: had they betrayed his brother, or not?
Tang Pil, Tang Daesan, and Yuhongak had. There would be no forgiveness.
“Die without lingering regrets. Your families will spend the rest of their lives cursing your names. I’ll make sure they live worse than pigs and dogs.”
The Yuhongak assassins wept and begged for mercy.
“Cough! Cough! We were wrong…… Young Master. Please, have mercy!”
“……I must have gone mad for a moment—kuhhk……!”
“Please, just leave our families alone—uwek!”
More than the fear of their own deaths, they dreaded the suffering that awaited their kin.
“I said don’t beg. The more you do, the more I want to tear you into pieces.”
Tang Cheonwi’s eyes flared.
Boom!
Poison qi detonated in the air itself.
The ultimate poison that turns the blood itself into a weapon of absolute ruin.
“Stop getting on my nerves and just die.”
The moment the words ended, black blood erupted from every pore of their bodies.
“Ah……”
“Mer……cy!”
“Please, I beg……”
They never finished speaking. Reduced to a handful of poisonous water, they vanished without a trace.
Meanwhile, Tang Ildo, who had witnessed the entire scene, trembled violently. For the first time he felt a genuine chill of dread from the young master, Tang Cheonwi.